Trolley-wire support



(No Model.)

L. MCCAR HY. TROLLBY WIRE SUPPORT.

No. 565,174. Patented Aug. 4, 1896.

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firiw 1712M W W g p H NDRRAS TER5 CO. PNUTO-LITNQ, WASHINGTON D c UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS MCCARTHY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

TROLLEY-WIRE SUPPORT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 565,174, dated August 4, 1896. Application filed July 20,1894. Serial No. 518,070. (No'modeL) To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LOUIS MCCARTHY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trolley-\Vire Supports, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

In the construction of electric railways in which an overhead trolley-wire is employed it is frequently desirable to support saidwire by means of a single row of uprights or posts which are located at one side of the track and which are provided with bracket-arms which extend over the track and from which the trolley-wire is supported. These bracketarms are rigid and unyielding and when the trolley-wire is supported from the bracketarm by means of an interposed insulator, which is rigidly secured to the said arm, a practically rigid support is obtained for the trolley-wire. I

It has been found in practice that a rigid support for the trolley-wire is undesirable, since the vibrations to which the wire is subjected are apt to cause a breakage of the wire or some of the parts with which it is directly connected. For this and other reasons, which are well known to those skilled in the art, a rigid connection of the trolley-wire with its supporting means is objectionable. To avoid this objectionable feature, it has been proposed to secure the trolley-wire insulator to a span-wire stretched between downwardlyprojecting portions of the bracket arms. This has proved objectionable in practice, as such a span-wire is relatively short, and if of sufficient size to be strong enough for its work and tightly stretched, as it requires to be, is relatively rigid and does not afford the advantages of a yielding or non-rigid support. It has also been proposed to support the trolley-wire insulator by means of linked connectors,which depend from the bracket-arm and which are combined with suitable checks, which permit of a certain movement of the trolley-wire insulator, in order to avoid the objectionable features of a rigid support. Such a means of supporting the trolley-wire insulator has proved expensive and otherwise objectionable.

My invention has for its object to provide a bracket-arm with a means for supporting a trolley-wire and its insulator which shall be free from the objections above indicated; and it consists in a means of support intermediate said wire and the bracket-arm, and which is of the construction hereinafter described.

The novel features of my invention are pointed out in the claim, which is appended hereto and which forms a part hereof.

I have shown my invention, in the best form now known to me, in the accompanying drawings, to which reference is made in the following description, and in which- Figure l is a side elevation of a portion of a bracket-arm with my device applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing a modification, and Fig. 3 is a detail, both of saidviews being hereinafter referred to.

Having reference to the drawings, the bracket-arm, which projects over the point at which the trolley-wire is to be located, is shown at 2 and the trolley-wire is shown at 3. The trolley wire is supported directly by means of a clip or car 4:, which is secured to the insulator 5 in the well-known manner.

The insulator 5 may be of any Well-known construction, said insulator being provided with a screw-threaded socket in the metallic connection thereof. This connection-is not shown, but is of well-known construction. The part 6 of the linked connector is provided with a threaded shank,which is screwed into the socket in the said connection. The insulator 5 is thus directly supported by the linked connector.

The part 6 of the connector is provided with an eye whichis linked into a corresponding eye on the part 7 of said connector, the parts 6 and 7 and their linked eyes forming the connector. This connector is preferably cast and the parts are cast together, the eyes being cast in their linked position, thus securing a flexible and at the same time avery strong connection. The part 7 of the connector is also provided with a threaded shank, which is screwed into a threaded socket in an insulator, which is shown at 10, and which is inserted between the upper, end of the portion 7 of the linked or flexible connector and the downwardly-projecting shank of the clip 8. The lower metallic connection of the insulator 10 is provided with a threaded socket, into which a threaded shank on the part 7 is screwed, and the upper metallic connection of the insulator 10 is provided with athreadcd shank or stem, which is screwed into a threaded socket in the projection 13 of the clip 8. The precise form of construction of the said insulator 10 is not material, and any wellknown form of insulator may be employed.

It is also obvious that the precise method employed for securing together the clip, in sulators, and linked connector is not material. I prefer, however, for strength and simplicity the method above described. By this means a very complete insulation is obtained and all sparking avoided when an accidentally-displaced trolley comes in contact with the bracket-arm or other portion of the construction above the trolley-wire.

My device is strong and durable, is readily put in place, is compact and relatively inexpensive, and while holding the trolley-wire securely in place admits of the necessary vibrations or movements thereof, so that the danger of breaking or impairing the wire or connections from this cause is reduced to a minimum.

I prefer the construction of collar or clip which is shown and fully described in Letters Patent No. 520,937, dated June 5, 1894, granted to me. In use the linked connector assumes a vertical position directly above the trolley-wire. It is simple and compact and is not liable to injury from a misplaced trolle The form of my device which I have herelnabove described and which is shown in Fig. 1 is intended by me for use on straight lines where the tendency of the trolley in passing along the trolley-wire is chiefly to press the wire upward. In such cases the wire is held down by its own weight,whieh at any given point exceeds the upward pressure of the trolley-springs, so that the wire is held in posit-ion, while at the same time it is permitted to yield to accommodate itself to any vibrations or movements which may occur. hen, however, the line is to be carried around a curve, I provide the insulator with an outwardly-extending arm. or arms, which are preferably curved, as shown at 9, Fig. 2, and to which a pull-oft wire may be secured in the well-known manner. By this construction my trolley-wire support may be used on curves as well as 011 straight lines.

The precise form or construction of the arm 9 is obviously immaterial, although I prefer to construct it of the curved form shown.

hat I claim is- A trolley-wire support, comprising a supporting-arm, an insulator, alinked connector extending vertically and intermediate the said insulator and the supporting-arm, and another insulator between the said connector and the said supporting-arm whereby double insulation is obtained between the trolleywire and the supporting-arm and the said wire is held by a yielding support, which permits it to respond to vibrations, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I ailix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

LOUIS MCCARTHY. lVitnesses:

WM. A. MACLEOD, ALICE I-I. I\.'IORRISON. 

